triedandtrue

Dare to cast off the cast iron skillet

It's not the only way to get mouth-watering, crispy chicken. Try a nonstick pan, then the oven, instead.

By JANET K. KEELER
Published May 23, 2007

	Homemade oven-fried chicken isn't in your family heritage? No problem.
[Times photo: Scott Keeler]

I chickened out on fried chicken.

Unless you come from fried chicken people I don't, those golden, tender bites require a cooking class, preferably taught by a Southerner.

To make fried chicken the way someone's Mama does, you must cook with all your senses. If there's no sound from the skillet, the oil isn't hot enough; lots of popping and spitting means the temperature is too high. If the chicken smells charred, it is. You should be able to see if you've overdone it on the breading. Heavy-handed coating ensures gloppy chicken. So much can go wrong.

Are you using the correct pan? A cast iron skillet is de rigueur, but I set off the smoke alarm when I tested a recipe with mine, which had nothing to do with the pan but rather my inability to control the temperature. A box of Shake 'n Bake was looking good.

I admit defeat but do not feel shame.

That's because I learned from my mistakes and developed a baked version respectable enough to bring to a Memorial Day picnic.

To get a flavorful coating, I browned the chicken pieces in vegetable oil and then finished them off in the oven. Not as much fuss and not as many calories as traditional fried chicken, plus, the house didn't smell like grease for three days. Just the better part of one.

There are many recipes for oven-fried chicken, each one subscribing to a different theory about what to coat it in (flour, cornmeal, corn flakes or a mixture) and what to dredge it in before that (egg, evaporated milk, buttermilk).

But here's my recipe, and I am sticking to it because I couldn't tell the difference between chicken swathed in buttermilk for 24 hours and the pieces that swam for a mere two. It didn't seem to matter whether the breaded pieces were refrigerated for 2 hours (as many recipes suggest) before cooking or 30 minutes. The breading adhered the same way.

What did matter was making sure the buttermilk-egg bath was thoroughly done dripping before putting the pieces in the breading mixture. To do this, I placed the pieces on a baker's cooling rack over the sink and let the liquid fall through the grates. This also kept the dry coating mixture from getting lumps.

Additional tips for Oven-Fried Chicken:

- The Japanese-style bread crumbs called panko mixed with flour made a sturdy crust with more texture because of the large, flaky bits. Look for panko at your grocery store near the seafood counter (they are often used as breading for fried shrimp) or in the Asian food aisle.

- Skin or skinless? That's up to you, but I prefer skinless breasts on the bone, legs with skin and boneless, skinless tenders. With this variety, diners have plenty to choose from. I halve large breasts with a sharp chef's knife that cuts through bone. The smaller pieces cook faster and are easier to eat, especially at a picnic.

- Put dry ingredients in a large plastic bag and shake the pieces, one or two at a time, to coat. This creates less mess than dredging the pieces through the mixture on a plate, plus it covers them more thoroughly.

- When you take the pieces out of the oven, cool them on a rack, not a plate, which can leave the underside soggy. Let sit for about 15 minutes before serving to allow juices to redistribute into the meat. Tent loosely with foil to keep warm.

- Use ample dried herbs in the flour-panko mixture if you are restricting salt intake. Italian seasoning is tasty. Without salt or enough seasoning, the chicken will be bland.

- Keep a meat thermometer at the ready. The chicken pieces will be done at different times, depending on size and whether or not they have bones. Chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Don't let it cook much more or the meat will dry out.

- Everyone raves about cast iron skillets, but I had the most luck with a heavy nonstick skillet for browning my chicken pieces. They browned more slowly, and I didn't have charred bits in the bottom the way I did with the cast iron and all-clad stainless steel pans.

It's not exactly fried chicken, but it tasted plenty good. And you don't have to have the Southern cooking gene to pull it off.

Janet K. Keeler can be reached at (727) 893-8586 or jkeeler@sptimes.com Read her recipe blog, Stir Crazy, at www.blogs.tampabay.com/food. 

ENTREE

Oven-Fried Chicken

2 pounds chicken pieces (legs, thighs, split breasts cut in half, tenders)

1 quart buttermilk

4 eggs

1 to 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (optional if using salt)

Vegetable oil

- Put chicken pieces in large bowl and cover with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, or even overnight.

- In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk eggs with mustard. Set aside.

- In a large plastic bag, mix flour, panko, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning (if using.)

- To bread chicken pieces, remove from buttermilk and dip into egg mixture. Let drain thoroughly. Put pieces, one or two at a time, into bag of dry coating and shake. Remove from bag and shake off excess. Place on rack or plate. When all pieces are coated, return to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to set.

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet over medium-high, heat a thin layer of oil until it shimmers. Add several pieces of chicken to the pan without overcrowding; there should be an inch or two between each piece. Brown on all sides. You may have to add more oil after a batch or two.

- Remove chicken from skillet, place on baking sheet and put in oven. Chicken will be done at various times, depending on size. Tenders will take about 15 minutes, legs and thighs about 30 minutes and breasts about 45 minutes.

- They are done when internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Place on a wire rack and let rest for about 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 6 to 8.

Source: Janet K. Keeler, Times Food and Travel editor

About the series

Tried and True

Tried and True is a monthly feature focusing on classic recipes with instruction on how to make them at home. The techniques aren't difficult and once mastered can be used to prepare other recipes. Coming in June: ratatouille

[Last modified May 22, 2007, 17:54:05]